Dual probe assay for the detection of hcv

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method for amplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid of HCV in a sample, wherein an amplification of the nucleic acids in said sample is carried out. This amplification involves a polymerase, primers for generating an amplicon and at least two detectable probes specific for different sequence portions of said amplicon. Detection of the obtained amplicon is brought about by detecting hybridization of the probes mentioned above to said different sequence portions of the amplicon. 
     The invention further provides reaction mixtures and kits for amplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid of HCV involving the use of at least two detectable probes specific for different sequence portions of an amplicon.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional of application Ser. No.61/715,457, filed on Oct. 18, 2012, which claims the benefit ofEP12188990.1 also filed on Oct. 18, 2012, the entire contents of whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention belongs to the field of in vitro diagnostics.Within this field, it concerns the amplification and detection of atarget nucleic acid that may be present in a sample and particularly theamplification and detection of a target nucleic acid comprisingsubgroups with sequence variations and/or individual mutations, using atleast two probes specific for different sequence portions of anamplicon. The invention further provides reaction mixtures and kitscontaining at least two probes specific for different sequence portionsof an amplicon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of molecular diagnostics, the amplification and detectionof nucleic acids is of considerable significance. Examples fordiagnostic applications of nucleic acid amplification and detection arethe detection of viruses such as Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), West NileVirus (WNV) or the routine screening of blood donations for the presenceof Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B (HBV) and/or C Virus(HCV) and the like. Furthermore, said amplification techniques aresuitable for bacterial targets, or the analysis of oncology markers, orother targets.

Within a species, a microorganism or pathogen is often classifiedaccording to distinct groups, genotypes or subtypes based on nucleicacid sequence variation (i.e. HCV, HIV, HPV etc). In an in vitrodiagnostic device, nevertheless, all groups, genotypes or subtypesshould be detected and/or correctly quantified to avoid false negativediagnosis or wrong titer determination. This poses a considerablechallenge for molecular diagnostic assays for e.g. detection of HIV andHCV.

Furthermore constant mutation and recombination of such pathogensgenerate within their target nucleic acids increasing diversity whichmust also be covered by the molecular diagnostic assay.

The most prominent and widely-used amplification technique is thePolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Other amplification reactions comprise,among others, the Ligase Chain Reaction, Polymerase Ligase ChainReaction, Gap-LCR, Repair Chain Reaction, 3SR, NASBA, StrandDisplacement Amplification (SDA), Transcription Mediated Amplification(TMA), and Qβ-amplification.

Automated systems for PCR-based analysis often make use of real-timedetection of product amplification during the PCR process in the samereaction vessel. Key to such methods is the use of modifiedoligonucleotides carrying reporter groups or labels.

Detection of a microbial nucleic acid in a biological sample is cruciale.g. for recognizing an infection of an individual. Thereby, oneimportant requirement e.g. for an assay for detection of a viralinfection is inclusivity, defined such that false-negative results orunderquantification of titers due to variable sequence regions on aviral genome caused by mutations have to be avoided. Mutated orpartially mutated sequences within the respective genome that arepossibly not amplified and/or detected in combination with the low viralload enhance the possibility of obtaining false-negative or falselyquantified results.

Several options have been published to increase the inclusivity of amolecular assay. Recently, coamplification of two different andnon-overlapping target sequences within the genome of a pathogen wasestablished (US 2010/0041040). This approach may, however, not begenerally applicable if two reasonably conserved target regions cannotbe identified within the genome of a pathogen or if the oligonucleotidesfor amplification and detection of two independent target regionsinterfere with each other in the master mix.

In this context, the prior art has e.g. provided methods foramplification and detection involving more than one probe based onhomogeneous amplicon sequence with the aim to increase assay sensitivity(Yip et al., 2005, Clin. Chem. 51 (10)).

SHORT SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is a method for amplifying anddetecting a target nucleic acid in a sample, said target nucleic acidcomprising subgroups with sequence variations and/or individualmutations, wherein an amplification of the nucleic acids in said sampleis carried out. This amplification involves a DNA polymerase, nucleotidemonomers, primers for generating an amplicon and at least two detectableprobes specific for different sequence portions of said amplicon.Detection of the obtained amplicon is brought about by detectinghybridization of the probes mentioned above to said different sequenceportions of the amplicon.

The invention also relates to the use of at least two non-overlappingdetectable nucleic acid probes specific for different sequence portionsof the same amplicon.

Furthermore, a kit is provided for amplifying and detecting a targetnucleic acid that may be present in a sample, said target nucleic acidcomprising subgroups with sequence variations and/or individualmutations. The kit comprises amplification reagents comprising a DNApolymerase, nucleotide monomers, primers for generating an amplicon andat least two detectable probes specific for different sequence portionsof said amplicon. In addition, reaction mixtures are provided foramplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid that may be present in asample, said target nucleic acid comprising subgroups with sequencevariations and/or individual mutations. The reaction mixtures comprisesa sample or a portion of a sample, and amplification reagents comprisinga DNA polymerase, nucleotide monomers, primers for generating anamplicon and at least two detectable probes specific for differentsequence portions of said amplicon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In a first embodiment, the present invention relates to a method foramplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid that may be present in asample, said target nucleic acid comprising subgroups with sequencevariations and/or individual mutations, said method comprising the stepsof:

-   -   a) contacting nucleic acids from said sample with amplification        reagents comprising a DNA polymerase, nucleotide monomers,        primers for generating an amplicon and at least two detectable        probes specific for different sequence portions of said        amplicon;    -   b) incubating said nucleic acids with said amplification        reagents for a period of time and under conditions sufficient        for an amplification reaction to occur;    -   c) detecting the presence or absence of said amplicon by        detecting hybridization of said detectable probes to said        different sequence portions of said amplicon,        wherein the presence of said amplicon is indicative of the        presence of said target nucleic acid comprising subgroups with        sequence variations and/or individual mutations in said sample.

In some embodiments of the invention, one or more steps of the methoddescribed above are automated. In further embodiments, all steps areautomated. Automated systems provide a number of advantages as comparedto manual methods, particularly in the field of in vitro diagnostics.The skilled person is enabled to leave the system after initiating themethod, thus reducing hands-on time and providing the basis for a highsample throughput in a relatively short period of time, yet at the sametime increasing reproducibility of the result. This is especially, butnot only, an important feature in situations with a high number ofclinical samples to be screened as quickly as possible, such as e.g. inblood banks.

In the context of the present invention, the term “amplifying” or“amplification” generally refers to the production of a plurality ofnucleic acid molecules from a target nucleic acid wherein primershybridize to specific sites on the target nucleic acid molecules inorder to provide an initiation site for extension by a polymerase, e.g.,a DNA polymerase. Amplification can be carried out by any methodgenerally known in the art, such as but not limited to: standard PCR,realtime PCR, long PCR, hot start PCR, qPCR, Reverse Transcription PCRand Isothermal Amplification.

It can be favorable to monitor the amplification reaction in real time,i.e. to detect the target nucleic acids and/or their amplificates duringthe amplification itself.

The term “detecting” or “detection” as used herein relates to a testaimed at assessing the presence or absence of a target nucleic acid in asample.

A “target nucleic acid” is a polymeric compound of nucleotides as knownto the expert skilled in the art. “Target nucleic acid” is used hereinto denote a nucleic acid in a sample which should be analyzed, i.e. thepresence, non-presence and/or amount thereof in a sample should bedetermined. The target nucleic acid may be a genomic sequence, e.g. partof a specific gene, or RNA. In other embodiments, the target nucleicacid may be viral or bacterial. Target nucleic acids can comprisesubgroups with distinct sequence variations or distinct individualmutations in the amplicon region. This is especially the case fornucleic acids of pathogens like viruses which show significant geneticvariation due to high mutation or recombination rates and lacking repairmechanisms.

The term “amplicon” refers to a polynucleotide molecule (or collectivelythe plurality of molecules) produced following the amplification of aparticular target nucleic acid. The amplification method used togenerate the amplicon can be any suitable method, for example, a PCR. Anamplicon is typically, but not exclusively, a DNA amplicon. An ampliconcan be single-stranded or double-stranded, or a mixture thereof in anyconcentration ratio. In an embodiment of the invention, the ampliconconsists of subpopulations with heterogeneous sequences between theprimer sequences.

The method set out above is in some embodiments based on FluorescenceResonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between a donor fluorescent moiety andan acceptor fluorescent moiety. In these embodiments, the detectableprobes specific for different sequence portions of the amplicon are FRETprobes. A representative donor fluorescent moiety is fluorescein, andrepresentative corresponding acceptor fluorescent moieties includeLC-Red 640, LC-Red 705, CY5, and CY5.5. Typically, detection includesexciting the sample at a wavelength absorbed by the donor fluorescentmoiety and visualizing and/or measuring the wavelength emitted by thecorresponding acceptor fluorescent moiety. In the method describedabove, detection is in some embodiments followed by quantitating theFRET. In the context of the invention, the terms “FRET” or “fluorescentresonance energy transfer” or “Foerster resonance energy transfer” canbe used interchangeably and refer to a transfer of energy between atleast two chromophores, a donor chromophore and an acceptor chromophore(referred to as a quencher). The donor typically transfers the energy tothe acceptor when the donor is excited by light radiation with asuitable wavelength. The acceptor typically re-emits the transferredenergy in the form of light radiation with a different wavelength. Whenthe acceptor is a “dark” quencher, it dissipates the transferred energyin a fours other than light. Whether a particular fluorophore acts as adonor or an acceptor depends on the properties of the other member ofthe FRET pair. Commonly used donor-acceptor pairs include the FAM-TAMRApair. Commonly used donors are e.g. fluoresceins, coumarins, cyaninesand rhodamines. Commonly used quenchers are DABCYL and TAMRA. Commonlyused dark quenchers include BlackHole Quenchers™ (BHQ), (BiosearchTechnologies, Inc., Novato, Cal.), Iowa Black™ (Integrated DNA Tech.,Inc., Coralville, Iowa), and BlackBerry™ Quencher 650 (BBQ-650) (Berry &Assoc., Dexter, Mich.).

A common format of FRET technology utilizes two hybridization probesforming a HybProbe pair. Each probe can be labeled with a differentfluorescent moiety. The probes are generally designed to hybridize inclose proximity to each other in a target DNA molecule (e.g., anamplification product). A donor fluorescent moiety like e.g. fluoresceinis excited at 470 nm by the light source e.g. of a LIGHTCYCLER®instrument. During FRET, the fluorescein transfers its energy to anacceptor fluorescent moiety such as e.g. LIGHTCYCLER®-Red 640 (LC®-Red640) or LIGHTCYCLER®-Red 705 (LC®-Red 705). The acceptor fluorescentmoiety then emits light of a longer wavelength, which is detected by theoptical detection system of the LIGHTCYCLER® instrument. Efficient FRETcan only take place when the fluorescent moieties are in direct localproximity (usually about 1 to 5 nucleotides distance) and when theemission spectrum of the donor fluorescent moiety overlaps with theabsorption spectrum of the acceptor fluorescent moiety. The intensity ofthe emitted signal can be correlated with the number of original targetnucleic acid molecules. In the context of the present invention, as alsoappreciated by the person skilled in the art, a HybProbe pair is to beunderstood as a functional unity and thus a single probe, since the twomembers of such a pair have to be used together. Hence, the distinctprobes of a HybProbe pair do not form “detectable probes specific fordifferent sequence portions” of an amplicon even though they do notoverlap when binding to the amplicon. However, e.g. two or more HybProbepairs are “detectable probes specific for different sequence portions ofsaid amplicon” in the sense of the invention, since as described above aHybProbe pair is to be understood as a single probe.

In an embodiment of the method described above, the detectable probesspecific for different sequence portions of said amplicon are HybProbepairs.

This embodiment confers several advantages. For instance, since theprobes in this detection format are not degraded, melting curve analysesmay be performed on each of the HybProbe pairs by monitoring thetemperature dependence of their hybridization. As the skilled personknows, melting curve analysis is suitable for verification of results oreven provision of more detailed information e.g. on the identity of atarget nucleic acid than monitoring hybridization at a singletemperature may yield.

Detection of amplicon formation on Cobas® TaqMan® systems utilizes asingle-stranded hybridization probe (also termed “5′-nuclease probe”).The term. “5′-nuclease probe” refers to an oligonucleotide thatcomprises at least one light emitting labeling moiety and that is usedin a 5′-nuclease reaction to effect target nucleic acid detection. Insome embodiments, for example, a 5′-nuclease probe includes only asingle light emitting moiety (e.g., a fluorescent dye, etc.). In certainembodiments, 5′-nuclease probes include regions of self-complementaritysuch that the probes are capable of forming hairpin structures underselected conditions. To further illustrate, in some embodiments a5′-nuclease probe comprises at least two labeling moieties and emitsradiation of increased intensity after one of the two labels is cleavedor otherwise separated from the oligonucleotide. In certain embodiments,a 5′-nuclease probe is labeled with two different fluorescent dyes,e.g., a 5′ terminus reporter dye and a 3′ terminus quencher dye ormoiety. In some embodiments, 5′-nuclease probes are labeled at one ormore positions other than, or in addition to, terminal positions. Whenthe probe is intact, energy transfer typically occurs between the twofluorophores such that fluorescent emission from the reporter dye isquenched at least in part. During an extension step of a polymerasechain reaction, for example, a 5′-nuclease probe bound to a templatenucleic acid is cleaved by the 5′ to 3′ nuclease activity of, e.g., aTaq polymerase or another polymerase having this activity like e.g. theZ05 polymerase, such that the fluorescent emission of the reporter dyeis no longer quenched. Exemplary 5′-nuclease probes are described in,e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,015. In some embodiments, a 5′ nuclease probemay be labeled with two or more different reporter dyes and a 3′terminus quencher dye or moiety. Typical fluorescent dyes used in thisformat are for example, among others, FAM, HEX, CY5, JA270, Cyan500 andCY5.5.

In an embodiment of the method described above, the detectable probesspecific for different sequence portions of said amplicon are5′-nuclease probes.

The detectable probes can hybridize to the same or to different strandsof a double-stranded amplicon.

In some embodiments of the method described above, at least twodetectable probes hybridize to different strands of said amplicon.

In this case, the skilled person is provided with increased flexibilitywith regard to selecting the primer and probe sequences and thus bindingsites on the respective amplicon. For instance, in the case of secondarystructure formation due to a specific sequence within anoligonucleotide, it can be important to be able to switch to a differentsequence and thus to a different binding site on said amplicon. Further,if the detectable probes bind to different strands, such as a firstprobe to the sense strand and a second probe to the antisense strand ofa double-stranded amplicon, the risk of those probes interfering witheach other at their respective binding sites is reduced.

In further embodiments of the method described above, at least twodetectable probes hybridize to the same strand of said amplicon.

In that latter embodiment, it is possible to hybridize multipledetectable probes specific for different sequence portions of theamplicon in close vicinity to each other. This is surprising due to thecircumstance that the respective exonuclease requires some space to bindand cleave the 5′-nuclease probes. Yet, the inventors have shown thateven such probes can be hybridized to an amplicon at only few bases ofdistance between one another. This enables the skilled person to usemore than one detectable probe specific for distinct sequence portionseach to amplicons of relatively short length. According to the methoddescribed above, even short stretches of target nucleic acids can serveas suitable targets for multiple probes, thus conferring the benefitsdescribed supra, such as e.g. signal enhancement and increased toleranceagainst genetic variations like e.g. point mutations.

Thus, in an embodiment of the method described above, the detectableprobes specific for different sequence portions of said ampliconhybridize to the amplicon with no more than 100 bases distance to eachother, in some embodiments from 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 bases, to 60,70, 80, 90, or 100 bases distance to each other. In some embodiments,the distance is from 40 to 80, or from 50 to 70, or from 55 to 60 bases,or it is 58 bases. In this context, “distance” means the number of basesof the amplicon lying between those bases of the amplicon to which thedetectable probes hybridize in case they hybridize to the same strand.If they hybridize to different strands, the distance is calculatedaccordingly, wherein each base of one strand of a double-strandedamplicon has a corresponding base on the other strand with which itfauns a base pair.

In some embodiments, detection is performed after each cycling step of acycle-based amplification technique such as PCR. In some embodiments,detection is performed in real time. By using commercially availablereal-time PCR instrumentation (e.g., LightCycler® or TaqMan®), PCRamplification and detection of the amplification product can be combinedin a single closed cuvette with considerably reduced cycling time. Sincedetection occurs concurrently with amplification, real-time PCR methodsobviate the need for manipulation of the amplification product, anddiminish the risk of cross-contamination between amplification products.In both detection formats described above, the intensity of the emittedsignal can principally be correlated with the number of original targetnucleic acid molecules.

A “sample” is any material that can be subjected to a diagnostic assayand generally refers to the medium possibly containing the targetnucleic acid. The “sample” is in some embodiments derived from abiological source. The sample can be e.g. a clinical sample. In someembodiments, said sample is derived from a human and is a body liquid.In some embodiments of the invention, the sample is human whole blood orserum, blood plasma, urine, sputum, sweat, genital or buccal or nasalswabs, pipettable stool, solubilized tissue samples, or spinal fluid orthe like. A sample can be pipetted or converted to a pipettable form,such that the team “sample” comprises homogeneous or homogenizedliquids, but also emulsions, suspensions and the like. A sample may alsoe.g. be an originally solid sample (i.e. tissue sample) which issubjected to a solubilization treatment for extraction and purificationof nucleic acids.

A “polymerase” as used herein is an enzyme capable of synthesizingnucleic acids from smaller elements such as nucleotides. In someembodiments, the nucleic acid polymerase is a DNA polymerase. In someembodiments, the polymerase is a thermostable polymerase. The term“thermostable polymerase” refers to an enzyme that is stable to heat, isheat resistant, and retains sufficient activity to effect subsequentpolynucleotide extension reactions and does not become irreversiblydenatured (inactivated) when subjected to the elevated temperatures forthe time necessary to effect denaturation of double-stranded nucleicacids. The heating conditions necessary for nucleic acid denaturationare well known in the art and are exemplified in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos.4,683,202, 4,683,195, and 4,965,188. As used herein, a thermostablepolymerase is suitable for use in a temperature cycling reaction such asthe polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”). Irreversible denaturation forpurposes herein refers to permanent and complete loss of enzymaticactivity. For a thermostable polymerase, enzymatic activity refers tothe catalysis of the combination of the nucleotides in the proper mannerto form polynucleotide extension products that are complementary to atemplate nucleic acid strand. For amplification purposes, saidnucleotides are present in monomeric form, therefore they are alsoreferred to as “nucleotide monomers” in the context of the presentinvention. Often, such nucleotide monomers used by polymerases such ase.g. thermostable DNA polymerases are e.g. nucleoside triphosphohates,or nucleoside tetraphosphates, or the like. Thermostable DNA polymerasesfrom thermophilic bacteria include, e.g., DNA polymerases fromThermotoga maritima, Thermus aquaticus, Thermus thermophilus, Thermusflavus, Thermus filiformis, Thermus species Sps17, Thermus species Z05,Thermus caldophilus, Bacillus caldotenax, Thermotoga neopolitana, andThermosipho africanus.

The term “primer” is used herein as known to the expert skilled in theart and refers to oligomeric compounds, primarily to oligonucleotides,but also to modified oligonucleotides that are able to prime DNAsynthesis by a template-dependent DNA polymerase, i.e. the 3′-end of theprimer provides a free 3′-OH group whereto further nucleotides may beattached by a template-dependent DNA polymerase establishing 3′- to5′-phosphodiester linkage whereby deoxynucleoside triphosphates are usedand whereby pyrophosphate is released.

A “probe” or “detectable probe” also denotes a natural or modifiedoligonucleotide. As known in the art, a probe serves the purpose ofdetecting an analyte or amplificate. In the context of the invention,probes can e.g. be used to detect the amplificates of the target nucleicacid and/or a control nucleic acid. For the purpose of detectability,probes typically carry labels.

In some embodiments of the method the at least two detectable probesspecific for different sequence portions of said amplicon carry the sametype of label and thus the signal originating from the individual probecannot be distinguished. In other embodiments, they carry differentlabels emitting signals of different wavelengths such that the signalsfrom the at least two probes can be distinguished with the appropriateinstrumentation.

“Labels”, often referred to as “reporter groups”, are generally groupsthat make a nucleic acid, in particular oligonucleotides or modifiedoligonucleotides, as well as any nucleic acids bound theretodistinguishable from the remainder of the sample. Useful labels in thecontext of the invention are e.g. fluorescent labels, which may befluorescent dyes such as for instance a fluorescein dye, a rhodaminedye, a cyanine dye, or a coumarin dye. Useful fluorescent dyes in thecontext of the invention are e.g. FAM, HEX, JA270, CAL635, Coumarin343,Quasar705, Cyan500, CY5.5, LC-Red 640, LC-Red 705, TAMRA, or CY5.

In the context of the invention, any primer and/or probe may bechemically modified, i.e. the primer and/or the probe comprise amodified nucleotide or a non-nucleotide compound. The probe or theprimer is then a modified oligonucleotide.

As known by the person skilled in the art, the term “specific” in thecontext of primers and probes implies that a primer or probe “specific”for a distinct nucleic acid binds to said nucleic acid under stringentconditions. In some embodiments the probes used in the context of theinvention are at least 80% identical to the different sequence portionsof the amplicon. In another embodiment, the probe sequences comprise atleast 12 contiguous nucleotides of a sequence selected from the groupconsisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 8 or the corresponding complementarynucleic acid sequences thereof, and the primers comprise at least 12contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 9 to 15. In some embodiments, theselected probe and/or primer sequences consist of 12 to 60 nucleotides,or of 20 to 60 nucleotides, or of the exact sequences selected from saidSEQ ID NOs:1-15 or their complementary nucleic acid sequences. Theskilled person understands that, in the sense of the invention, a probepair forming a functional entity such as e.g. a Hybprobe pair used inthe LightCycler® instrument is not “at least two detectable probesspecific for different sequence portions of said amplicon”. The twoHybprobes of a pair are regarded as a unit and can only be detectedtogether, while each of the at least two probes in the context of theinvention is detectable alone.

Furthermore, in the context of the invention the teen “overlap” meansthat two or more oligonucleotides, in particular the at least twodetectable probes mentioned supra, comprise identical (when bound to thesame strand) or complementary (when bound to different strands) sequencestretches. The probes used in the method described above in someembodiments do not overlap and thus do not compete in binding to aspecific site on the amplicon. When bound, said two or more probes arehybridized to different sequence stretches of said amplicon. Thedetectable probes used in the context of the invention are advantageousas compared to overlapping probes.

The term “hybridize” or “hybridization” generally refers to thebase-pairing between different nucleic acid molecules consistent withtheir nucleotide sequences. The terms “hybridize” and “anneal” can beused interchangeably.

Directing two or more probes to different sequence portions of the sameamplicon, as performed in the method described supra, leads to asignificantly reduced risk of obtaining false-negative results inqualitative assays. Moreover, in quantitative assays, the risk tounderquantitate titers e.g. of a virus is reduced. A variety ofdifferent genotypes, subtypes and mutants within a given organism can bereadily detected and quantified using a minimum number ofoligonucleotides as a result of the increased inclusivity and robustnessof the assay. In that respect, it may be the case that a certaingenotype, subtype or mutant is not hybridized to by all of the at leasttwo detectable probes. For instance, in the case of two probes, onemight not bind to the target amplicon because of the specific sequencevariant of the latter, whereas the other probe specific for a differentsequence portion of said amplicon is still capable of hybridizing to itsrespective target sequence. This way, detection of the amplicon wouldstill be possible. In embodiments where the different probes carrydifferent labels, it may also be possible to determine which of theprobes hybridized and which ones did not.

The life cycle of tests based on the method described above isprolonged, since it is able to deal even with new variants generated bymicroorganisms such as e.g. viruses through selective pressure forexample as a consequence of new antiretroviral drugs. In view of thehigh degree of mutations within viral genomes, in an embodiment of themethod described above said target nucleic acid is a viral nucleic acid.

Overall inclusivity of qualitative assays is significantly increased,and the variability of titer determinations in quantitative assays isminimized by applying the method described above.

As known by the skilled person, a measure for the inclusivity is thedetection of viral subgroups and isolates carrying mutations withequivalent sensitivity as the standard isolates not significantlydeviating from the consensus sequence. Sensitivity of an assay is theLOD (Limit Of Detection), referring to the lowest detectable amount orconcentration of a nucleic acid in a sample. A low “LOD” corresponds tohigh sensitivity and vice versa. The “LOD” is usually expressed eitherby means of the unit “cp/ml”, particularly if the nucleic acid is aviral nucleic acid, or as IU/ml. “Cp/ml” means “copies per milliliter”wherein a “copy” is a copy of the respective nucleic acid. IU/ml standsfor “International units/ml”, referring to the WHO standard. The WHOstandards are generally built from a standard isolate with a genomeclose to the consensus sequence.

A widely used method for calculating an LOD is the “Probit Analysis”which is a method of analyzing the relationship between a stimulus(dose) and the quantal (all or nothing) response. In a typical quantalresponse experiment, groups of animals are given different doses of adrug. The percent dying at each dose level is recorded. These data maythen be analyzed using Probit Analysis. The Probit Model assumes thatthe percent response is related to the log dose as the cumulative normaldistribution. That is, the log doses may be used as variables to readthe percent dying from the cumulative normal. Using the normaldistribution, rather than other probability distributions, influencesthe predicted response rate at the high and low ends of possible doses,but has little influence near the middle.

The Probit Analysis can be applied at distinct “hitrates”. As known inthe art, a “hitrate” is commonly expressed in percent [%] and indicatesthe percentage of positive results at a specific concentration of ananalyte. Thus for example, an LOD can be determined at 95% hitrate,which means that the LOD is calculated for a setting in which 95% of thevalid results for a true positive sample are determined as positive.

The method described above is particularly advantageous in assays fordetecting Hepatitis C-Virus (HCV). Thus, in an embodiment of the methoddescribed supra, the target nucleic acid is a nucleic acid of HCV.

The expression “hepatitis C virus type” refers to the categorization ofa hepatitis C virus based on its genomic organization (e.g.,phylogenetic analysis). The categorization of an HCV isolate into aparticular type category reflects its genomic relatedness to other HCVisolates and its relatively lesser relatedness to other HCV isolates.The HCV typing nomenclature used herein is consistent with the widelyadopted nomenclature revised and proposed by Simmonds et al (2005)“Consensus Proposals for a Unified System of Nomenclature of Hepatitis CVirus Genotypes”, Hepatology 42, No. 4:962-973. The system of Simmondset al (2005) places the known HCV isolates into one of six (6) HCVgenotypes, namely genotypes 1 through 6. Each genotype is furthersubdivided into groupings termed subtypes that reflect relatedness amongstrains of the same genotype. An HCV subtype is written by a lowercaseRoman letter following the genotype, e.g., subtype 1a, subtype 1c,subtype 6a, etc. Genetic variants found within an individual isolate aretermed quasi species. Approximately 100 HCV subtypes encompassing allsix genotypes are known worldwide. The number of subtypes is not static,i.e. as more HCV isolates are studied and sequenced, it is likely thatadditional subtypes (and possibly genotypes) may be recognized.

Since HCV is an RNA virus, the person skilled in the art usuallyreversely transcribes the viral RNA into DNA prior to the actualamplification. In such a case, the amplification reagents comprise areverse transcriptase or a polymerase with reverse transcriptaseactivity.

A primer suitable for annealing to an RNA template may also be suitablefor amplification by PCR. For PCR, a second primer, complementary to thereverse transcribed cDNA strand, provides an initiation site for thesynthesis of an extension product.

In the amplification of an RNA molecule by a DNA polymerase, the firstextension reaction is reverse transcription using an RNA template, and aDNA strand is produced. The second extension reaction, using the DNAtemplate, produces a double-stranded DNA molecule. Thus, synthesis of acomplementary DNA strand from an RNA template by a DNA polymeraseprovides the starting material for amplification.

Thermostable DNA polymerases can be used in a coupled, one-enzymereverse transcription/amplification reaction. The term “one-stepreal-time PCR”, in this context, may refer to a reaction without reversetranscription step if target nucleic acid is DNA or a reaction includinga reverse transcription step if target nucleic acid is RNA. By “one-stepreal-time PCR” it is meant that following the reverse transcription (RT)step, there is no need to open the reaction vessel or otherwise adjustreaction components prior to the amplification step. In a non-one-stepreal-time PCR reaction, following reverse transcription and prior toamplification one or more of the reaction components such as theamplification reagents are e.g. adjusted, added, or diluted, for whichthe reaction vessel has to be opened, or at least its contents have tobe manipulated. Both one-step real-time PCR and non-one-step real-timePCR embodiments are comprised by the scope of the invention.

In an embodiment of the invention carryover contamination ofamplification products such as amplicons and high molecular weightproducts (polymerized amplicon) originating from earlier PCR reactionsare prevented. A popular and effective way of preventing carryovercontamination involves the use of uracil-DNA glycosylases oruracil-N-glycosylases, abbreviated as “UDG” or “UNG” (EC 3.2.2.3). Theseenzymes comprising uracil-DNA glycosylase activity recognize uracilpresent in single-stranded or double-stranded DNA and cleave theN-glycosidic bond between the uracil base and the deoxyribose leaving anabasic site, see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,294.

As shown by the examples herein, a particularly good performance indetecting a nucleic acid of HCV is achieved when employing probescomprising or consisting of at least two sequences selected from thegroup consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1 to 8 or the respective complementsthereof.

Hence, an aspect of the invention is a method for amplifying anddetecting a target nucleic acid of HCV that may be present in a sample,said method comprising the steps of:

-   -   a) contacting nucleic acids from said sample with amplification        reagents comprising a polymerase, nucleotide monomers, primers        for generating an amplicon and at least two detectable probes        specific for different sequence portions of said amplicon,        wherein said at least two detectable probes comprise at least        two sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1        to 8 or the respective complements thereof;    -   b) incubating said nucleic acids with said amplification        reagents for a period of time and under conditions sufficient        for an amplification reaction to occur;    -   c) detecting the presence or absence of said amplicon by        detecting hybridization of said detectable probes to said        different sequence portions of said amplicon;        wherein the presence of said amplicon is indicative of the        presence of HCV in said sample.

In a further embodiment of the method described above, said at least twodetectable probes comprise SEQ ID NOs:6 and 8, in yet another embodimentthe amplification reagents contain no further HCV-specific probes apartfrom SEQ ID NOs:6 and 8.

In an embodiment of the invention, the primers in the method mentionedabove comprise at least one sequence selected from the group consistingof SEQ ID NOs:9 to 15. Said primers are particularly useful for creatingan amplicon detectable with the probes mentioned above. In anotherembodiment, the primers in the method mentioned above consist of SEQ IDNOs: 9, 10, and 11.

Also an aspect of the invention is the method described above, whereinsaid primers comprise more than one forward and/or reverse primer. Suchan arrangement can be especially useful when these primers lead tovariable, overlapping amplicons detectable by the probes mentionedabove. In the case of more than one forward and/or reverse primer, therespective forward and/or reverse primers are in some embodimentsstaggered, i.e. they overlap with respect to the template sequence theyhybridize to. Such a staggered constellation further contributes to anincreased coverage of genetic variants such as HCV genotypes and/orsubtypes.

The combination of the primers and probes mentioned above in the methodset out supra is particularly useful for detecting a considerablevariety of HCV genotypes. In an embodiment, the method described aboveis a method for simultaneously detecting Genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6of HCV that may be present in a sample. In a further embodiment, themethod described above is a method for detecting Genotypes 1, 2, 3, and5 (Subset 1) with a fully matching first probe and Genotypes 1, 2, 4,and 6 (Subset 2) with a fully matching second probe. In a furtherembodiment, the method is a method for detecting Subtypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2band in some embodiments further Subtypes. In yet another embodiment, themethod described above is a method for simultaneously detectingGenotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 as well as Subtypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b and insome embodiments further Subtypes of HCV that may be present in asample.

A further aspect of the invention is the method described above, furthercomprising prior to step a) the steps of:

-   -   i) combining together a solid support and said sample for a        period of time and under conditions sufficient to permit nucleic        acids comprising said target nucleic acid to be immobilized on        said solid support;    -   ii) isolating said solid support from the other material present        in the sample in a separation station;    -   iii) purifying the nucleic acids in the separation station by        separating the sample from the solid support and washing the        solid support one or more times with a wash buffer.

In the context of the invention, the term “solid support” as used hereinrelates to any type of solid support to which the analyte is capable ofbinding, either directly and non-specifically by adsorption, orindirectly and specifically. Indirect binding may be binding of ananalyte to an antibody immobilized on the solid support, or binding of atag to a tag binding compound, e.g. binding of 6xHis tags to Ni-chelate.When the analyte is a nucleic acid, such indirect binding may be bybinding to a capture nucleic acid probe which is homologous to a targetsequence of the nucleic acid of interest. Thus, using capture probesattached on a solid support, a target analyte, or a target nucleic acid,can be separated from non-target material, or non-target nucleic acid.Such a capture probe is immobilized on the solid support. Solid supportmaterial may be a polymer, or a composition of polymers. Other types ofsolid support material include magnetic silica particles, metalparticles, magnetic glass particles, glass fibers, glass fiber filters,filter paper etc., while the solid support material is not limited tothese materials.

“Immobilize”, in the context of the invention, means to capture objectssuch as nucleic acids in a reversible or irreversible manner.Particularly, “immobilized on the solid support material”, means thatthe object or objects are associated with the solid support material forthe purpose of their separation from any surrounding media, and can berecovered e.g. by separation from the solid support material at a laterpoint. In this context, “immobilization” can e.g. comprise theadsorption of nucleic acids to glass or other suitable surfaces of solidmaterials as described supra. Moreover, nucleic acids can be“immobilized” specifically by binding to capture probes, wherein nucleicacids are bound to essentially complementary nucleic acids attached to asolid support by base-pairing. In the latter case, such specificimmobilization leads to the predominant binding of target nucleic acids.

A “separation station” is a device or a component of an analyticalsystem allowing for the isolation of the solid support from the othermaterial present in the sample. Such a separation station can e.g.comprise, while it is not limited to these components, a centrifuge, arack with filter tubes, a magnet, or other suitable components. In someembodiments, the separation station comprises one or more magnets. Incertain embodiments, one or more magnets are used for the separation ofmagnetic particles, such as e.g. magnetic glass particles, as a solidsupport. If, for example, the sample and the solid support material arecombined together in the wells of a multiwell plate, then one or moremagnets comprised by the separation station can e.g. be contacted withthe sample itself by introducing the magnets into the wells, or said oneor more magnets can be brought close to the outer walls of the wells inorder to attract the magnetic particles and subsequently separate themfrom the surrounding liquid.

In the sense of the invention, “purification”, “isolation” or“extraction” of nucleic acids relate to the following: Before nucleicacids may be analyzed in a diagnostic assay e.g. by amplification, theytypically have to be purified, isolated or extracted from biologicalsamples containing complex mixtures of different components. For thefirst steps, processes may be used which allow the enrichment of thenucleic acids.

A “wash buffer” is a fluid that is designed to remove undesiredcomponents, especially in a purification procedure. Such buffers arewell known in the art. In the context of the purification of nucleicacids, the wash buffer is suited to wash the solid support material inorder to separate the immobilized nucleic acid from any unwantedcomponents. The wash buffer may, for example, contain ethanol and/orchaotropic agents in a buffered solution or solutions with an acidic pHwithout ethanol and/or chaotropic agents as described above. Often thewashing solution or other solutions are provided as stock solutionswhich have to be diluted before use.

Summarizing, by applying the steps i) to iii) of the method describedabove, the nucleic acids including the target nucleic acid that may bepresent in the sample are separated from the remainder of the sample,such that the risk of inhibition of the subsequent steps by anypotentially interfering substances in said sample is reduced.

For downstream analysis, the nucleic acids may subsequently be elutedfrom the solid support e.g. by means of an appropriate elution buffer.Such an elution buffer may e.g. be distilled or deionized water oraqueous salt solutions, such as e.g. Tris buffers like Tris HCl, orHEPES, or other suitable buffers known to the skilled artisan.

In some embodiments, the solid support is present in the amplificationreaction mixture during amplification and in some embodiments alsodetection.

In some embodiments of the method described supra, a control nucleicacid is added to the sample and/or the purified nucleic acids.

Said control nucleic acid is in some embodiments a qualitative controlnucleic acid, and in other embodiments a quantitative control nucleicacid, or both.

Qualitative detection of a nucleic acid in a sample is crucial e.g. forrecognizing an infection of an individual. Thereby, one importantrequirement for an assay for detection e.g. of a viral infection is thatfalse-negative or false-positive results be avoided, since such resultswould almost inevitably lead to severe consequences with regard totreatment of the respective patient. Thus, especially in PCR-basedmethods, a qualitative internal control nucleic acid is added to thedetection mix Said control is particularly important for confirming thevalidity of a test result: At least in the case of a negative resultwith regard to the respective target nucleic acid, the qualitativeinternal control reaction has to perform reactive within given settings,i.e. the qualitative internal control must be detected, or otherwise thetest itself is considered to be inoperative. However, in a qualitativesetup, said qualitative internal control does not necessarily have to bedetected in case of a positive result. For qualitative tests, it isespecially important that the sensitivity of the reaction is guaranteedand therefore strictly controlled. In consequence, the concentration ofthe qualitative internal control must be relatively low so that even ina situation e.g. of slight inhibition the qualitative internal controlis not detected and therefore the test is invalidated.

Thus, in an embodiment of the method described above, the presence of anamplification product of said control nucleic acid is indicative of anamplification occurring in the reaction mixture even in the absence ofamplification products for said target nucleic acid.

On the other hand and in addition to mere detection of the presence orabsence of a nucleic acid in a sample, it is often important todetermine the quantity of said nucleic acid. As an example, stage andseverity of a viral disease may be assessed on the basis of the viralload. Further, monitoring of any therapy requires information on thequantity of a pathogen present in an individual in order to evaluate thetherapy's success.

Hence, an aspect of the invention is the method described above, furthercomprising the step of determining the quantity of the target nucleicacid comprising subgroups with sequence variations and/or individualmutations after and/or during step c).

For instance, HCV RNA viral load tests are used as an aid in themanagement of chronic hepatitis C patients by evaluating treatmentresponse and making clinical decisions e.g. regarding treatmentduration. The primary goal of a therapy for chronic hepatitis C is toeradicate the HCV by achieving a sustained virologic response, e.g. inthe case of treatment with medicaments like peginterferon alpha-2, aloneor in combination with further drugs such as ribavirin and/or bocepreviror telaprevir. The method described above provides a viral load assaythat reliably detects and quantifies HCV RNA leading to improvedon-treatment monitoring.

For a quantitative assay, it is necessary to introduce a quantitativestandard nucleic acid serving as a reference for determining theabsolute quantity of a target nucleic acid. Thus, a quantitativeinternal control nucleic acid is added to the detection mix. Saidcontrol is particularly important for quantification of the test resultbut also for confirming the validity of a test result: The quantitativeinternal control nucleic acid must be detected in the case of a negativeand a positive result with regard to the respective target nucleic acid.The quantitative internal control reaction has to perform reactivewithin given settings or otherwise the test itself is considered to beinoperative. Quantitation can be effectuated either by referencing to anexternal calibration or by implementing an internal quantitativestandard.

An example of how to perform calculation of quantitative results forsignals generated on a Cobas® TaqMan® system based on an internalcontrol nucleic acid serving as a quantitative standard nucleic acid isdescribed in the following: A titer is calculated from input data ofinstrument-corrected fluorescence values from an entire PCR run. A setof samples containing a target nucleic acid and an internal controlnucleic acid serving as a quantitative standard nucleic acid undergo PCRon a thermocycler using a specified temperature profile. At selectedtemperatures and times during the PCR profile samples are illuminated byfiltered light and the filtered fluorescence data are collected for eachsample for the target nucleic acid and the internal control nucleicacid. After a PCR run is complete, the fluorescence readings areprocessed to yield one set of dye concentration data for the internalcontrol nucleic acid and one set of dye concentration data for thetarget nucleic acid. Each set of dye concentration data is processed inthe same manner. After several plausibility checks, the elbow values(CT) are calculated for the internal control nucleic acid and thetarget, nucleic acid. The elbow value is defined as the point where thefluorescence of the target nucleic acid or the internal control nucleicacid crosses a predefined threshold (fluorescence concentration). Titerdetermination is based on the assumptions that the target nucleic acidand the internal control nucleic acid are amplified with the sameefficiency and that at the calculated elbow value equal amounts ofamplicon copies of target nucleic acid and internal control nucleic acidare amplified and detected. Therefore, the (ctQS−ctTarget) is linear tolog(target conc/QS conc). In this context, QS denotes the internalcontrol nucleic acid serving as a quantitative standard nucleic acid.The titer T can then be calculated for instance by using a polynomialcalibration formula as in the following equation:

conc_(Target)=conc_(QS)·10^((a·(ctQS−ctTarget)) ²^(+b·(ctQS−ctTarget)−c))

The polynomial constants and the concentration of the quantitativestandard nucleic acid are known, such that the only variable in theequation is the difference (ctQS−ctTarget).

As known by the person skilled in the art, important values forcharacterizing a good quantitative assay are e.g. the assay's linearityor linear range (determined by quantitation of a dilution series of thetarget material with subsequent linear regression of the resultingcurve), accuracy (correlation between nominal and experimentallydetermined/assigned values), inclusivity (equivalent and accuratequantification of genotypes/subtypes/mutants/isolates) and precision(standard deviation of the log₁₀ transformed concentration resultdetermined by variance component analysis using data generated fromlinearity studies).

For both quantitative and qualitative tests, also properties likeanalytical sensitivity (described above in the context of LOD) orspecificity (avoidance of false-positive results due to unspecificdetection) are significant parameters. It is shown in the examplesherein that the method described above displays improved properties withregard to inclusivity as discussed above.

In line with the advantages of the method as discussed above, anotheraspect of the invention is the use of at least two detectable nucleicacid probes for amplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid that maybe present in a sample, said target nucleic acid comprising subgroupswith sequence variations and/or individual mutations, wherein saiddetectable nucleic acid probes are specific for different sequenceportions of the same amplicon.

In some embodiments of the use described above, said detectable probesdo not overlap.

In further embodiments, the use described above is a use of at least twodetectable nucleic acid probes for amplifying and detecting a targetnucleic acid of HCV that may be present in a sample, wherein saiddetectable nucleic acid probes are specific for different sequenceportions of the same amplicon, and wherein said detectable probescomprise at least two sequences selected from the group consisting ofSEQ ID NOs:1 to 8 or the respective complements thereof.

In a further embodiment of the use described above, said at least twodetectable probes comprise SEQ ID NOs:6 and 8, in yet another embodimentthe kit contains no further HCV-specific probes apart from SEQ ID NOs:6and 8.

Further provided by the invention is a kit for amplifying and detectinga target nucleic acid that may be present in a sample, said targetnucleic acid comprising subgroups with sequence variations and/orindividual mutations, said kit comprising amplification reagentscomprising a polymerase, nucleotide monomers, primers for generating anamplicon and at least two detectable probes specific for differentsequence portions of said amplicon.

In some embodiments of the kit described above, said detectable probesdo not overlap.

In an embodiment, the kit mentioned supra is a kit for amplifying anddetecting a target nucleic acid of HCV that may be present in a sample,said kit comprising amplification reagents comprising a polymerase,nucleotide monomers, primers for generating an amplicon and at least twodetectable probes specific for different sequence portions of saidamplicon, wherein said detectable probes comprise at least two sequencesselected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1 to 8 or therespective complements thereof.

In a further embodiment of the kit described above, said at least twodetectable probes comprise SEQ ID NOs:6 and 8, in yet another embodimentthe kit contains no further HCV-specific probes apart from SEQ ID NOs:6and 8.

The detectable probes of the kit described above can hybridize to thesame or to different strands of a double-stranded amplicon.

In some embodiments of the method described above, at least twodetectable probes hybridize to different strands of said amplicon. Infurther embodiments, at least two detectable probes hybridize to thesame strand of said amplicon.

In another embodiment of the kit described above, the detectable probesspecific for different sequence portions of said amplicon hybridize tothe amplicon with no more than 100 bases distance to each other, in someembodiments from 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 bases, to 60, 70, 80, 90, or100 bases distance to each other. In some embodiments, the distance isfrom 40 to 80, or from 50 to 70, or from 55 to 60 bases, or it is 58bases. In this context, “distance” means the number of bases of theamplicon lying between those bases of the amplicon to which thedetectable probes hybridize in case they hybridize to the same strand.If they hybridize to different strands, the distance is calculatedaccordingly, wherein each base of one strand of a double-strandedamplicon has a corresponding base on the other strand with which itfauns a base pair.

In an embodiment of the invention, the primers of the kit describedabove comprise more than one forward and/or reverse primer.

In an embodiment of the invention, the primers in the kit mentionedabove comprise at least one element selected from the group consistingof SEQ ID NOs: 9 to 15. Said primers are particularly useful forcreating an amplicon detectable with the probes mentioned above. Inanother embodiment, the primers in the kit mentioned above are SEQ IDNOs: 9, 10 and 11.

The advantages for said use and said kit are analogous to the onesdescribed further supra in the context of the method according to theinvention.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1: Overview of probes tested.

FIG. 2: Assessment of probes SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 5 using HCV RNAtranscripts for HCV genotype 1a and for a naturally occurring mutantisolate (Lindauer).

FIG. 3 a-b: Assessment of non-overlapping probes SEQ ID NOs: 3, 4, 7 and8 using HCV genotype 1a and 4a plasma samples. FIG. 3 a: assessment oftarget ct values for an HCV GT1a and an HCV GT4a plasma sample. FIG. 3b: assessment of the fluorescence signal at the last PCR cycle for anHCV GT1a and an HCV GT4a plasma sample.

FIG. 4 a-b: Assessment of non-overlapping probes SEQ ID NOs: 3, 4, 7 and8 using transcript RNA for HCV genotype 1a (consensus) and for twonaturally occurring mutant isolates (Jody, Lindauer). FIG. 4 a:assessment of target ct values for three HCV RNA transcripts. FIG. 4 b:assessment of fluorescence signal at the last PCR cycle for three HCVRNA transcripts.

FIG. 5: Final assessment of probe SEQ ID NO:8 versus mastermix withoutsecond probe (RL1.1) using HCV RNA transcripts for HCV genotype 1a andfor seven different naturally occurring mutant isolates.

FIG. 6 a-b: Concentration optimization for probe SEQ ID NO:8 (additionof 35%, 50% and 65%) versus reference mastermix RL1.1 using one patientHCV GT1a and three GT4a samples. FIG. 6 a: assessment of target ctvalues for an HCV GT1a and three HCV GT4a plasma samples. FIG. 6 b:assessment of the fluorescence signal at the last PCR cycle for an HCVGT1a and three HCV GT4a plasma samples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1: schematic overview of probes tested to supplement original probeSEQ ID NO:6. Primers and probe with SEQ ID NOs: 6, 9, 10 and 11 belongto reference mastermix RL1.1 and are present in all experiments.

FIG. 2: assessment of titers (cp/mL) for two HCV RNA transcripts, acontrol transcript for HCV genotype 1a and a transcript with twonaturally occurring mutations in the probe binding region of theamplicon (Lindauer) with mastermixes containing 1.0% additional or 50%additional second probe (relative to concentration of standard probe SEQID NO:6 in RL1.1). For the reference Mastermix RL1.1, bars 1 and 2 andbars 3 and 4 represent identical experiments as no additional probe iscontained in the Mastermix. A second reference is RL1.1 with increasedconcentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6, 10% and 50%, but no secondprobe. Addition of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 3, 4, and 5 increases theconcentration determined for the mismatch transcript. Note that SEQ IDNOs: 1 and 1*, 2 and 2*, 3 and 3* and 5 and 5*, respectively, areidentical in sequence but contain different labels (see also FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 a: assessment of target ct values for an HCV GT1a and an HCV GT4aplasma sample with mastermixes containing 50% additional second probe(relative to concentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 in RL1.1).Reference Mastermix RL1.1 contains only one probe SEQ ID NO:6. A secondreference is RL1.1 with 50% increased concentration of standard probeSEQ ID NO:6, but no second probe. Low target ct indicates early samplerecognition; a delta of 3.3 Ct values indicates a 10-fold titerdifference. Addition of probes SEQ ID NOs: 3, 4, and 7 slightly decreaseperformance in either GT1a and/or GT4a as the ct-values increase. Bestperformance is observed for SEQ ID NO:8.

FIG. 3 b: assessment of the fluorescence signal at the last PCR cyclefor an HCV GT1a and an HCV GT4a plasma sample with mastermixescontaining 50% additional second probe (relative to concentration ofstandard probe SEQ ID NO:6 in RL1.1). Reference Mastermix RL1.1 containsonly one probe, SEQ ID NO:6. A second reference is RL1.1 with 50%increased concentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6, but no secondprobe. High relative fluorescence index (RFI) indicates efficientamplification and signal generation. Addition of SEQ ID NOs: 4 and 7decreases performance in GT1a and GT4a as the RFIs decrease. Bestperformance is observed for SEQ ID NO:8.

FIG. 4 a: assessment of target ct values for three HCV RNA transcripts,a control transcript for HCV genotype 1a and 2 transcripts withnaturally occurring mutations in the probe binding region of theamplicon with mastermixes containing 50% additional second probe(relative to concentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 in RL1.1).Reference Mastermix RL1.1 contains only one probe, SEQ ID NO:6. A secondreference is RL1.1 with 50% increased concentration of standard probeSEQ ID NO:6, but no second probe. Low target ct indicates earlyrecognition of a sample; a difference of 3.3 Ct values indicates a10-fold titer difference. Addition of SEQ ID NOs: 3, 4 and 7 show slightperformance increase for the mutant transcripts as the ct-valuesdecrease. Best performance is observed for SEQ ID NO. 8.

FIG. 4 b: assessment of fluorescence signal at the last PCR cycle forthree HCV RNA transcripts, a control transcript for HCV genotype 1a andtwo transcripts with naturally occurring mutations in the probe bindingregion of the amplicon with mastermixes containing 50% additional secondprobe (relative to concentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 inRL1.1). Reference Mastermix RL1.1 contains only one probe, SEQ ID NO:6.A second reference is RL1.1 with 50% increased concentration of standardprobe SEQ ID NO:6, but no second probe. High relative fluorescence index(RFI) indicates efficient amplification and signal generation. Additionof SEQ ID NOs: 3, 4 and 7 shows no improvement concerning RFI in themutant transcripts. Clear improvement is observed for SEQ ID NO:8.

FIG. 5: assessment of titers (cp/mL) for nine HCV RNA transcripts, acontrol transcript for HCV genotype 1a and transcripts with naturallyoccurring mutations in the probe binding region of the amplicon withmastermixes containing 50% additional second probe (relative toconcentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 in RL1.1). ReferenceMastermix RL1.1 contains only one probe, SEQ ID NO:6. Addition of SEQ IDNO:8 increased the concentration for all mismatch transcripts (withmismatches under the standard probe) as compared to reference RL1.1 upto >100fold.

FIG. 6 a: assessment of target ct values for an HCV GT1a and three HCVGT4a plasma samples with mastermixes containing 35%, 50% and 65%additional probe SEQ ID NO:8 (relative to concentration of standardprobe SEQ ID NO:6 in RL1.1). Reference Mastermix RL1.1 contains only oneprobe, SEQ ID NO:6. Low target ct indicates early sample recognition; adelta of 3.3 Ct values indicates a 10-fold titer difference. All threeconcentrations of SEQ ID NO:8 performed similarly.

FIG. 6 b: assessment of the fluorescence signal at the last PCR cyclefor an HCV GT1a and three HCV GT4a plasma samples with mastermixescontaining 35%, 50% and 65% additional probe SEQ ID NO:8 (relative toconcentration of standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 in RL1.1). ReferenceMastermix RL1.1 contains only one probe, SEQ ID NO:6. High relativefluorescence index (RFI) indicates efficient amplification and signalgeneration. Best results were obtained for addition of 50% of secondprobe SEQ ID NO:8.

EXAMPLES General Experimental Design

All experiments were performed under equivalent experimental conditions.The basic master mix composition including the standard probe SEQ IDNO:6 was the same in all experiments and was designated mastermix RL1.1.RL1.1 was supplemented with additional 50% of either the original probeSEQ ID NO:6 or with one of the additional probes (SEQ ID NOs: 1-5, 7, or8) for evaluation one at a time, according to the present invention.Each probe was added and assessed individually at the same concentration(10% or 50% of the original probe SEQ ID NO:6). The different secondprobes partly overlapped or did not overlap with the standard probe SEQID NO:6. Some of the probes were located on the same strand as thestandard probe SEQ ID NO:6, some were located on the opposite strand.

In all experiments the mastermix RL1.1 without a second probe was testedas reference (control 1) as well as the mastermix with 10% or 50%increased concentration of the original probe SEQ ID NO:6 (control 2).The same sample preparation profiles, thermocycling profiles and resultinterpretation parameters were used for the assessment of the differentmastermixes. As samples, either natural HCV GT1a and GT4a samples wereused and tested in 10 replicates each or transcripts of the5′untranslated region of HCV were tested in 4 to 6-fold replicates. Meanvalues across the replicates and standard deviation are presented in thegraphs.

In initial experiments the probes SEQ ID NO 1-5 were assessed using HCVtranscripts representing a standard GT1a and transcripts representing amismatch isolate in the probe region. SEQ ID NOs: 2, 3, 4, and 5 showedthe best initial performances. SEQ ID NOs: 3 and 4 were furtherevaluated together with additionally designed probes SEQ ID NOs: 7 and8. SEQ ID NO:8 showed best performance in all experiments. A finalevaluation using nine different transcripts representing a controltranscript for HCV genotype 1a and transcripts with naturally occurringmutations in the probe binding region of the amplicon demonstrated thatthe addition of a second probe significantly increased the observedtiter up to >100fold for the transcripts carrying mismatches.

Example 1 Sample Material

HCV patient samples for HCV subtype 1a, representing the standard HCVsamples, and HCV subtype 4a, representing HCV samples with possiblesequence variation in the standard probe binding region, were tested tocheck the effect of adding a second probe to the mastermix. HCV RNAtranscripts representing HCV GT1a consensus sequence and transcripts ofthe 5′untranslated region of naturally occurring HCV isolates in theamplicon region were used to evaluate the different second probes.

Nucleic Acid Extraction:

Per reaction 1 ml of patient plasma sample material was used for nucleicacid extraction. If transcripts were used, about 500 cp/ml (forexperiments shown in FIGS. 2, 3 a and 3 b) or about 50 000 cp/ml (forexperiments shown in FIGS. 4 a, 4 b and 5) were added to a guanidiniumthiocyanate-containing buffer to inactivate RNases and 1 ml was thenprocessed in the same way as a normal sample. A number of 5 to 10replicates of the patient samples and 4 to 6 replicates of transcriptsamples were tested in each of the experiments.

Nucleic acid extraction methods are state-of-the-art and are known bythe skilled artisan (see for example Sambrook et al., 2nd Edition 1989,Part 1-3, Molecular Cloning—A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring HarborLaboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; Oligonucleotide Synthesis (M. J.Gait, ed., 1984). Alternatively, commercially available nucleic acidextraction kits, i.e. the High Pure Viral Nucleic Acid Kit (RocheDiagnostics, Indianapolis, Ind., USA) or the Cobas® AmpliPrep TotalNucleic Acid Isolation Kit (TNAI) (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis,Ind., USA) can be used. In the experiments described here the nucleicacid extraction was based on the Cobas® AmpliPrep Total Nucleic AcidIsolation Kit (TNAI) (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, Ind., USA). Thespecimen preparation reagents consist of a magnetic glass particlessuspension, a lysis reagent, a protease reagent, an elution buffer and awash reagent. Quantitation Standard RNA was added to the specimensbefore nucleic acid extraction. The armored HCV particles andQuantitation Standard RNA armored particles are lysed by incubation witha protease and a chaotropic lysis/binding buffer that releases nucleicacids and protects the released HCV RNA from RNases in serum or plasma.Subsequently, the HCV RNA and Quantitation Standard RNA are bound tomagnetic glass particles. Unbound substances such as salts, proteins andother cellular impurities are removed by washing the magnetic particles.The adsorbed nucleic acids are eluted at elevated temperature with anaqueous buffer.

PCR Reaction Mixture:

The master mixes evaluated consisted of the reference mastermix RL1.1which was supplemented with the different probes. The referencemastermix RL1.1 was prepared in a large batch. For each experiment thismaster mix was supplemented with additional 10% or 50% of the standardprobe SEQ ID NO:6 or with additional 10% or 50% of the individual secondprobes to be assessed as specified in the FIGS. 2-6.

Mastermix Composition RL1.1:

Chemical Concentration Tricine 157 mM Potassium acetate 314 mM DMSO15.8% Sodium Azide 0.09% Glycerol 14.4% Potassium Hydroxide 36.9 mMdNTPs (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, dUTP) 1.29 mM each Fwd primer SEQ ID NO 9 2.14μM Rev primer SEQ ID NO 10 1.07 μM Rev primer SEQ ID NO 11 1.07 μMTarget probe SEQ ID NO: 6 428 nM Second probe SEQ ID NOs: 1-5, 7 or 43nM (10%) or 214 nM (50%) 8* QS Probe SEQ ID NO 16 428 nM ZO5 polymerase2280 KU/L UNG 114 KU/L Aptamer 860 nM pH 7.8 *different second probe ineach experiment; different concentrations in experiments to obtain dataof FIG. 6.

Aptamers are short, single-stranded DNA- or RNA-oligonucleotides (25-70bases), which bind to a specific molecule (i.e. protein, thermostableDNA polymerase from Thermus aquaticus) through their 3D structure (seefor example C. Tuerk and L. Gold: Systematic evolution of ligands byexponential enrichment: RNA ligands to bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase,Science, volume 249, 1990, p. 505-510).

50 μL of nucleic acid containing eluate were added to 35 μL of mastermix and 15 μL of 18 mM manganese acetate in PCR tubes and loaded ontothe Cobas® TaqMan®48 Analyzer.

PCR Reaction:

The following thermal cycling steps were applied:

Duration Temperature Repetitions  5 min 50° C. 1 30 min 66° C. 1 15 sec95° C. 52 25 sec 58° C. 52  2 min 40° C. 1

Data Analysis:

The titers, ct-values or Relative fluorescence indices (RFI) acrossreplicates of a sample, obtained as results from the Cobas® TaqMan®instrument, were averaged and the mean values with standard deviationwere plotted as bar graphs as shown in FIGS. 2-5. The positive effect ofa probe was assessed either by i) titer increase versus the referencemaster mix, or ii) decrease in ct value together with RFI increaseversus the reference master mix.

Example 2

The experiments presented here can also be carried out as follows: Thecommercially available Cobas® AmpliPrep/Cobas® TaqMan® HCV Test(manufactured by Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, Calif., USA) isused for extracting HCV RNA from the patient and the transcript samples.Specimen preparation is automated using the Cobas® AmpliPrep Instrumentand amplification/detection is automated using the Cobas® TaqMan®Analyzer or the Cobas® TaqMan® 48 Analyzer. The test is based on threemajor processes: (1) specimen preparation to isolate RNA from human EDTAplasma or serum and controls which are provided in secondary tubes onthe Cobas® AmpliPrep Instrument; (2) reverse transcription of the targetRNA and the Quantitation Standard/Internal Control RNA to generatecomplementary DNA (cDNA) and (3) PCR amplification of target cDNA andQuantitation Standard/Internal Control cDNA with simultaneous detectionof the generated amplicons on the Cobas® TaqMan® Analyzer by cleavage ofdual-labeled detection probes specific to the target and to theQuantitation Standard/Internal Control.

The specimen preparation reagents consist of a magnetic glass particlesuspension, a lysis reagent, a protease reagent, an elution buffer and awash reagent. The HCV particles as well as the QuantitationStandard/Internal Control particles are lysed by incubation with aprotease and a chaotropic lysis/binding buffer that releases nucleicacids and protects the released HCV RNA from RNases in serum or plasma.Subsequently, the HCV RNA and Quantitation Standard RNA are bound tomagnetic glass particles. Unbound substances such as salts, proteins andother cellular impurities are removed by washing the magnetic particles.The adsorbed nucleic acids are eluted at elevated temperature with anaqueous buffer. The specimen or control eluate is added to the mastermix and transferred to the Cobas® TaqMan® Analyzer or the Cobas® TaqMan®48 Analyzer for amplification and detection.

For the experiments presented here, the Cobas® AmpliPrep/Cobas® TaqMan®HCV Test master mix is replaced by a mastermix according to the tableshown below and in addition by adding different second probes accordingto the information given below. The reagent cassette with the modifiedmastermix is used on the Cobas® AmpliPrep instrument. The master mixcontains primer and probe pairs specific for both HCV RNA andQuantitation Standard/Internal Control RNA. The primer binding sites areshared by the HCV target and the Quantitation Standard/Internal Control.Primers and target probes are located in a highly conserved part of the5′-untranslated region of the HCV genome. The detection of HCV targetand Quantitation Standard is performed using a target-specific and aQuantitation Standard-specific dual-labeled oligonucleotide probe whichpermits independent identification of HCV target amplicon and HCVQuantitation Standard amplicon. The HCV Quantitation Standard isautomatically added to each specimen at a known copy number by theCobas® AmpliPrep and is carried through the entire specimen preparation,reverse transcription, amplification and detection steps along with theHCV target. The Quantitation Standard must give a positive signal in HCVtarget negative and positive specimens in order to enable titerdetermination. In partly suppressed or inhibited reactions theQuantitation Standard is affected similarly as the target and thusallows correct titer determination. Finally, the Quantitation Standardmonitors HCV target negative reactions for inhibitory effects but due toits rather high concentration monitoring is not stringent.

Mastermix Composition RL1.1:

Chemical Concentration Tricine 157 mM Potassium acetate 314 mM DMSO15.8% Sodium Azide 0.09% Glycerol 14.4% Potassium Hydroxide 36.9 mMdNTPs (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, dUTP) 1.29 mM each Fwd primer SEQ ID NO 9 2.14μM Rev primer SEQ ID NO 10 1.07 μM Rev primer SEQ ID NO 11 1.07 μMTarget probe SEQ ID NO: 6 428 nM Second probe SEQ ID NOs: 1-5, 7 or 43nM (10%) or 214 nM (50%) 8* QS Probe SEQ ID NO 16 428 nM ZO5 polymerase2280 KU/L UNG 114 KU/L Aptamer 860 nM pH 7.8 *different second probe ineach experiment; different concentrations in experiments to obtain dataof FIG. 6.

Aptamers are short, single stranded DNA- or RNA-oligonucleotides (25-70bases), which bind to a specific molecule (i.e. protein, Z05) throughtheir 3D structure (see for example C. Tuerk and L. Gold: Systematicevolution of ligands by exponential enrichment: RNA ligands tobacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase, Science, volume 249, 1990, p. 505-510).

The reference master mix RL1.1 without a second probe is prepared in alarge batch. For each experiment this reference master mix issupplemented with the additional probes as shown in the Figures. Thesesupplemented mastermix variations are filled into reagent cassettes andare loaded onto the Cobas® AmpliPrep instrument.

Data Analysis:

The titers, ct-values or Relative fluorescence indices (RFI) acrossreplicates of a sample, obtained as results from the Cobas® TaqMan®, areaveraged and the mean values with standard deviation are plotted as bargraphs as shown in FIGS. 2-5. The positive effect of a probe is assessedeither by i) titer increase versus the reference master mix, or ii)decrease in ct value together with RFI increase versus the referencemaster mix.

Result:

-   -   1. SEQ ID NO:8 overall achieved the best results. In an        assessment using nine different transcripts, one reference        transcript for GT1a and eight transcripts with mutations in the        probe binding region of SEQ ID NO:6, a titer increase was        observed for every mutant transcript, up to 100-fold. Probe SEQ        ID NO:8 does not overlap with the standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 and        is located on the opposite strand.    -   2. A concentration optimization experiment for addition of SEQ        ID NO:8 showed best results in terms of low ct values and high        RFI values for an addition of 50% second probe relative to        concentration of standard probe SEQ ED NO:6 in RL1.1.    -   3. SEQ ED NOs: 2, 3, 4, and 5 showed initial promising results.        Increase in the titer of a mutant transcript can therefore be        obtained by adding second probes which are partly overlapping,        probes which are very close to the standard probe on the same        strand or the opposite strand or non-overlapping probes on the        same or the opposite strand:        -   SEQ ID NO:2 overlaps with the standard probe SEQ ID NO:6 and            is located on the opposite strand.        -   SEQ ID NO:3 is located on the same strand as SEQ ID NO:6            with one base spacing with regard to the standard probe SEQ            ID NO:6.        -   SEQ ID NOs:4, 7 and 8 do not overlap with the standard probe            SEQ ID NO:6 and are located on the opposite strand.        -   SEQ ID NO:5 is analogous to the standard probe SEQ ID NO:6            but carries mutations which are not covered by SEQ ID NO:6.

It is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein arefor illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changesin light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art.

1. A method for amplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid of HCVthat may be present in a sample, said method comprising: a) contactingnucleic acids from said sample with amplification reagents comprising aDNA polymerase, nucleotide monomers, primers effective for generating anamplicon from said target nucleic acid, and at least two detectableprobes specific for different sequence portions of said amplicon,wherein said detectable probes comprise at least two sequences selectedfrom the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1 to 8 or the respectivecomplements thereof; b) incubating said nucleic acids with saidamplification reagents for a period of time and under conditionssufficient for an amplification reaction to occur; c) detecting thepresence or absence of said amplicon by detecting hybridization of saiddetectable probes to said different sequence portions of said amplicon,wherein the presence of said amplicon is indicative of the presence ofHCV in said sample.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said detectableprobes do not overlap.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said primerscomprise more than one forward or reverse primer.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein said primers comprise at least one element selected from thegroup consisting of SEQ ID NOs:9 to
 15. 5. The method of claim 4,wherein said primers are SEQ ID NOs:9, 10 and
 11. 6. The method of claim1, wherein said amplification reagents further comprise a controlnucleic acid.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step ofdetermining the quantity of the target nucleic acid of HCV after and/orduring step c).
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the detectable probesspecific for different sequence portions of said amplicon are5′-nuclease probes or HybProbe pairs.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe detectable probes specific for different sequence portions of saidamplicon hybridize to the amplicon at sites having no more than 100bases between each other.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetectable probes specific for different sequence portions of saidamplicon carry the same label.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetectable probes specific for different sequence portions of saidamplicon carry different labels.
 12. A kit for amplifying and detectinga target nucleic acid of HCV that may be present in a sample, said kitcomprising amplification reagents comprising a DNA polymerase,nucleotide monomers, primers effective for generating an amplicon fromsaid target nucleic acid, and at least two detectable probes specificfor different sequence portions of said amplicon, wherein saiddetectable probes comprise at least two sequences selected from thegroup consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1 to 8 or the respective complementsthereof.
 13. The kit of claim 12, wherein said detectable probes do notoverlap.
 14. The kit of claim 12, wherein said primers comprise morethan one forward or reverse primer.
 15. The kit of claim 12, whereinsaid primers comprise at least one element selected from the groupconsisting of SEQ ID NOs:9 to
 15. 16. The kit of claim 15, wherein saidprimers are SEQ ID NOs:9, 10 and
 11. 17. A reaction mixture foramplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid that may be present in asample, said target nucleic acid comprising subgroups with sequencevariations and/or individual mutations, said reaction mixture comprisinga sample or portion of a sample, amplification reagents comprising a DNApolymerase, nucleotide monomers, primers effective for generating anamplicon from said target nucleic acid, and at least two detectableprobes specific for different sequence portions of said amplicon,wherein said detectable probes comprise at least two sequences selectedfrom the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1 to 8 or the respectivecomplements thereof.